Nine hundred two. That’s the number of times Krzyzewski has won a college basketball game he has coached; the same number of wins legendary coach Bobby Knight had in his coaching career. Most of the 902 victories have come as the Blue Devils coach.
Duke will face Michigan State on Tuesday in Krzyzewski's first attempt at becoming the NCAA’s all time winningest coach after his team won him his record tying victory over Presbyterian College.
After a tough opening night victory against Belmont, Duke came out with a renewed confidence against Presbyterian. Duke shot 61 percent from the field and 50 percent from three point range.
The Blue Devils kept the same starting starting lineup in their second game as they did in their first with both Mason and Miles Plumlee getting the starting nod. But it was another big man, Ryan Kelly, that led the bigs off the bench.
Kelly led a balanced scoring attack for Duke with 17 points, while both Plumlee brothers contributed 13 a piece.
Freshman Austin Rivers looked much better than Friday's season opener. He still made a few spotty decisions as most freshman do, but he also made some spectacular plays that make you see the brilliance he needs to learn to harness.
Pseudo-point guard Seth Curry, played well and made better decisions. Though he didn’t necessarily fill up the stat sheet, he did make smart plays and more importantly, made the right plays.
Josh Hairston got his first minutes of the season (16) and played well. He was very active, picking up 5 boards, but also picked up 3 fouls in limited time.
Freshman Quinn Cook and Michael Gbinije played a lot together and looked good doing it. Tyler Thornton also came off the bench but wasn't as productive as he was in the season opener.
Thornton continues to impress though, especially defensively and he seems to be gaining a lot of Krzyzewski's confidence.
Overall it was a big improvement though the level of competition certainly wasn't as intense, but for at least a night when the Duke nation will celebrate its coach's milestone victory, the fans can have a little more confidence.
Duke played more consistently on both offense and defense and it showed on the scoreboard and in the stat sheet.
The game allowed a lot of the younger players like Cook, Gbinije and Hairston to get extended minutes. Freshman Alex Murphy did not play again as he suffered an apparent concussion this week and may miss a few games as a result.
We will have more on the big victory tomorrow as well as a peek ahead at Duke-Michigan State. Duke Sports Blog will have a man in the stands for Krzyzewski's first crack at 903 so stay tuned for coverage of the potential recorder breaker.
